What Is California Labor Code §4701: Burial Expenses?

If an injury causes death, either with or without disability, the employer shall be liable, in addition to any other benefits provided by this division, for all of the following:

What does Labor Code 4701 require?

Labor Code 4701 requires a California employer to pay burial costs and a dependents' death benefit when a work injury causes an employee's death.

The rule applies the moment a work injury causes death, whether the worker was disabled first or died suddenly from the injury. It applies to every employer covered by California workers' compensation, acting through the employer's insurer. The law names two separate duties: reasonable burial expenses up to a capped dollar amount, and a death benefit for any dependents the worker supported. Both duties sit on top of whatever other workers' compensation benefits the claim already owed before the death.

The burial amount depends on the date of the injury, not the date of death. Under Labor Code 4701(a), the cap is $2,000 for an injury before January 1, 1991, $5,000 for an injury on or after January 1, 1991 and before January 1, 2013, and $10,000 for an injury on or after January 1, 2013. That $10,000 figure is current law today. The section was last amended effective January 1, 2013, and nothing since then has raised it.

How does the burial benefit in Labor Code 4701 work in a real claim?

The burial benefit reimburses reasonable funeral and burial costs on top of any disability or medical benefits the claim already owed.

This duty stacks on top of other workers' compensation benefits, not instead of them. If the worker was receiving temporary or permanent disability payments before death, those payments stop, but any amount that had already accrued and was unpaid is still owed to the dependents, or with no dependents, to the heirs without probate. Labor Code 4700 covers how already-accrued benefits are paid out after a death.

How much is the burial benefit today, and does the injury date change it?

A work injury from January 1, 2013 onward caps the burial benefit at $10,000.

Yes, the date of injury controls which cap applies. A worker hurt in 2012 who later dies from that injury is still subject to the older $5,000 cap for the 1991-to-2013 window, even if the death itself happens years afterward. This $10,000 current cap is separate from, and much smaller than, the death benefit paid to dependents, which runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The two payments should not be confused with each other.

What death benefit does Labor Code 4701(b) also create for dependents?

Labor Code 4701(b) gives the worker's dependents a separate death benefit, though the dollar amount is set by other sections of this law.

Under Labor Code 3502, a dependent is generally someone the worker supported, wholly or partly, at the time of the injury. Sections 4702 and 4703 set the dollar amount and how it is divided between total and partial dependents. The table below shows the current dependent death benefit alongside the burial cap for comparison.

For the full picture of who can claim and how payments are scheduled, see the firm's overview of California workers' comp death benefits.

What happens if a worker has no dependent when they die?

The dependents' death benefit in Labor Code 4701(b) is not owed if no one depended on the worker for support, but the burial benefit can still apply on its own.

Section 4701(b) only creates a death benefit when the worker leaves someone who depended on them for support. If no one qualifies as a dependent, that particular payment does not arise. Subdivision (a) of this section covers the burial expense separately, and it does not depend on whether a dependent exists. A narrower related rule, Labor Code 4706, lets the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board order the burial expense paid to the proper person, up to the Labor Code 4701 cap, when there is no surviving dependent and no heir either. That is a narrow situation, not the general rule, so check the specific facts before assuming it applies.

What should you save or ask about after a work-related death?

Save the death certificate, burial receipts, and proof of support, and move quickly because a filing deadline applies.

Keep the death certificate, the funeral home's itemized bill, and any proof that dependents relied on the worker's income, such as pay stubs or shared housing costs. Under Labor Code 5406, a death benefit claim generally must start within one year of the date of death, and never more than 240 weeks from the date of the original injury. If the insurer denies or delays either payment, the firm's guide on a denied California workers' comp claim walks through next steps.

Losing a family member to a work injury is hard enough without confusing paperwork. An attorney can help confirm which dependents qualify, track the one-year filing clock under Labor Code 5406, and check that the insurer paid the full burial amount the injury date allows. Yazdchi Law P.C. reviews each matter individually. Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form to ask about a claim.